Clothes line prop and tightener



April 6, 1955 R. .1. REEDER CLOTHES LINE PROP AND TIGHTENER Filed Sept. 11, 1950 1:. Jlleder ATTORNEYS- United States Patent CLOTHES LINE PROP AND TIGHTENER Ralph J. Reeder, Moline, Ill. Application September 11, 1950, Serial No. 184,252

1 Claim. (Cl. 248-353) This invention relates to a clothes line prop and tightener, adapted to support a clothes line against sagging, while at the same time tightening said line to remove slack therein.

By way of background, it may be noted that a clear problem exists in connection with the support of a clothes line and the reduction of slack, this problem being especially of importance where the clothes line is of unusual length and is required to serve as a support for a heavy weight of laundered clothes.

An important object of the present invention is to substantially eliminate this problem by the provision of a combined clothes line prop and tightener which can be placed in supporting relationship to a clothes line at any selected point between the opposite ends of the line, and which will be swiftly adjusted to a position in which it supports the clothes line, is held against accidental separation from the clothes line, and tightens the clothes line to any desired extent.

Another important object is to provide a device of the character described which will be constructed at relatively low cost, and which will comprise a minimum of parts arranged in a simple manner whereby they will not readily get out of order.

Still another object is to provide a clothes line prop of the type stated including a novel form of head adapted to engage a clothes line and support it while at the same time tightening said line against sagging, said head being so constructed as to be capable of being mounted upon an ordinary clothes prop of wooden construction, or upon a metal prop as desired.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists of certain novel details of construction and combinations of parts, hereinafter more fully described and pointed out in the claim, it being understood that changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of parts Without departing from the spirit of the invention as claimed.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a clothes line prop formed in accordance with the present invention, the upper end only of the prop being shown, a line engaged by said clothes line prop being illustrated in chain dotted lines.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view.

Fig. 3 is a transverse section.

Referring to the drawings in detail, a prop is designated 1 and in the present instance is of non-circular cross section. The prop 1 can, in fact, be an ordinary wooden clothes prop, the invention being so formed as to be capable of being mounted upon a prop already in use. Or, the member 1 can be of metallic construction, as desired.

In any event, adapted to be fitted upon the upper end of the member 1 is the socket 2 of corresponding cross sectional configuration, the socket 2 having a recess receiving the upper end of the clothes line prop, there being an opening 3 formed in said socket to receive some type of fastening means, not shown, whereby the head having at its lower end the socket 2, can be held against accidental separation from the prop 1.

The socket portion 2 constitutes the base part of a stem disposed centrally of the head, there being formed at the upper end of the socket portion a peripheral shoulder, diametrically opposed lugs 4 being formed upon said shoulder, the shoulder being designated 5 and merging into a reduced upstanding hub 6 which may or may not be formed with the recess 7.

, alignment.

2,707,091 Patented Apr. 26, 1955 Formed integrally upon the upper end of the hub 6 is a collar 8, the hub and collar being circular in cross sectional configuration, and upstanding from the collar 8 are the diametrically opposed fingers 9.

With the exception of the prop 1, all the parts so far described, can be conveniently termed a. stem, that supports and is rotatable relative to the other main part of the prop head, said other part constituting a yoke. The yoke is in the present instance formed from a pair of identical though opposite yoke members 10 each of which is provided with an outwardly bowed medial portion so as to define a center opening through which the stem extends, thus to mount the yoke for rotation relative to the hub 6 which it surrounds. The yoke, in this connection, also has a certain amount of up and down movement upon said hub, as may be noted by reference to Figs. 1 and 3, in which it is seen that the collar 8 is positioned some distance above the top surface of the center portion of the yoke.

In any event, each yoke member 10 is provided with oppositely extended end portions 11, merging into upstanding fork arms 12, the fork arms 12 of the respective yoke members defining end spaces on the yoke through which is extendable a clothes line L.

Also, formed upon the bottom edge of the apertured center portion of the yoke is a circumferential series of inclined cam surfaces 13 merging into abutments 14 adapted to engage against the lugs 4 of the stem.

Rigidly connecting the yoke members together to form the completed yoke are the rivets 15 or equivalent fastening means.

In use, a head comprising a stern and yoke as illustrated is mounted upon the upper end of a clothes prop, and the stem is rotated relative to the yoke to a position in which the line can pass straight through the spaces between the respective fork arms 12 and also through the space between the fingers 9. In other words, to permit passage of the clothes line L through the spaces as indicated, the stem would be rotated from the position illustrated in Fig. 2, so that all three spaces are in This permits the clothes line L to be received in these three spaces.

Thereafter, the clothes prop 1 and the stem are rotated relative to the yoke. It is not necessary that the yoke be gripped by the user during this operation, since the clothes line L will engage the yoke against rotation with the stem.

This rotation of the stem relative to the yoke will cause the clothes line L to be twisted or looped around the fingers 9 in the manner shown in Fig. 1. As a result, the clothes line will be tightened, and when the clothes line is tightened to a desired extent, it will be seen that reverse rotation tending to loosen the clothes line is pre- {16111651 by engagement of the abutments 14 against the ugs In this way,'the clothes line will be supported upon the clothes prop and at the same time will be tightened as desired. The further beneficial result is obtained of eliminating the possibility of the clothes prop becoming accidentally disengaged entirely from the clothes line, since the clothes line will be twisted around the center portion of the tightener and will at the same time be received between the yoke arms 12.

At such time as it may be desired to remove the clothes prop and tightener from the line, it is necessary only to press the yoke upwardly a slight extent, the hub 6 being of sutficient length to permit this. As a result, the abutments 14 will be disengaged from the lugs 4 and the yoke will be capable of being swiftly rotated in a reverse direction to become disengaged from the line L. As a matter of fact, the line L will itself tend to untwist itself from the stem at this time.

What is claimed is:

A line tightener of the kind described comprising a supporting stem, a cylindrical shoulder on one end of said stem, an axial hub on said shoulder extending outwardly therefrom and formed integrally therewith, an annular collar on said hub parallel to and spaced concentrically from said shoulder, a yoke rotatable about said hub and axially slidable thereon between said shoulder and collar, oppositely and outwardly axially extending fork arms on the opposite sides of said yoke, circumferentially spaced abutments on the bottom surface of said yoke and oppositely cammed lugs on said shoulder engageable with said abutments and upwardly extending fingers on said collar whereby a line engaged between said fork arms and fingers may be tightened upon rotation of said yoke in one direction relative to said stem and loosened upon rotation in the opposite direction.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 290,029 Furney Dec. 11, 1883 4 Zimmerman Dec. 20, 1898 Caughey Apr. 23, 1918 FOREIGN PATENTS Germany Mar. 28, 19 19 

